The topic of genetically modified organisms, or GMO’s, is certainly a frustrating one to talk about. There are many fallacies on either side of the issue coming from both mass public opinion and giant corporate lobbying. A specific case that took place back in 2013 was loaded with this kind of blind campaigning.

Different proposals for regulations of GMO’s had been stirred up and brought into discussion without much actual legislative consideration, that is until Margaret Willie proposed her bill. Willie is a council member of the Hawaii county council, and mustered up some significant support for her bill which would stop all growth of GMO’s with the exception of two crops already vastly used among the state.

While there were many blind supporters of the bill, there was a small population that was skeptical and wanted to get to the truth of the issue. Mr. Greggor Ilagan a fellow councilmen of Willie was determined to get to the bottom of the issue and make an informed vote on the bill. In his endeavor for information, he came across many unreliable reports being published, some ranging from simple biases to downright lies. With much public support of the bill, Ilagan knew he was in for a tough battle to bring about the truth on this issue.

Willie’s side of the argument certainly contains some legitimate concerns, as to how the large biotech companies have been not so careful with producing quality, safe goods and how problems will emerge with other big companies putting profits before safety. All of these are legitimate concerns, however, banning GMO’s is not the solution to big business greed. Issues with pesticides and other health concerns will still exist without the spotlight of GMO’s being placed on these large biotech companies.

Willie’s argument has even more holes after two of the major arguing points were brushed off as purely pseudo-science, those being the cancerous tumors in rats and “superweeds.” Opponents of GMO’s claimed that genetically modified foods being inserted into rats’ diets was causing cancer in them, but come to find out, not only was the sample size too small to acquire adequate data, but the data showed that even the control group of rats were likely to get cancer anyway. The GMO’s didn’t even cause the tumors in the rats! Another point of Willie’s that was debunked was the idea of “superweeds” or weeds that increased in size and had grown resistant to weedkiller due to genetic contamination. It turns out, according to scientist Jon Suzuki of the area, that these enlarged weeds have simply developed a tolerance to herbicides and that cross species genetic contamination doesn’t even occur. These are not very convincing points in a legislative bill for which the opportunity cost would be many advances in agriculture and science if passed.

The issue of GMO’s should be about that, GMO’s. No fake science or false claims. Not to say GMO’s are right or wrong, but when it comes to finding out the truth, what is safe or not, this kind of lobbying and lying cannot be allowed. Greggor Ilagan believed this and truly stuck to his wits to find truth behind some of the lies. The scientific and agricultural prospects of this field are too great to let the argument be dictated merely by popular opinion and lobbying politicians. The way businesses may abuse GMO’s is also a legitimate concern, but a lot of brainpower goes into making money. Why not use some of these businesses money to find the truth behind GMO’s and bring forth some amazing new advancements in the field of agriculture?